MOTACILLID.E -TIIK \VA(iTAIl.S. 



165 



Subfamily MOTACILLIN^. 



Genus MOTACILLA, Linn. 



Motacilla, Linn. Syst. N;it. Or.vi".', }[otiicilla alba.) 



The cliagno.sis already given of Motacilla will serve to define it. Tlic 

 genus is an Old World one, represented by several species, only one of wliicli 

 {M. alba) is entitled to a place here from occurring in Greenland. 



Motacilla alba, Linx. 



WHITE WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla alba, LiXN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 17o(i, -iil. — Keys. & Bl.4S. "VVirb. Europ. 1840, 

 xlbc, and 174. — Degland, Orn. Europ. I, 1849, 433. — Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 6 

 (Greenland). — Newton, Baring-Gould's Iceland, 1863, App. ("rather plentiful").— 

 BAiun, Kev. Am. B. 1864, 152. 



Figure : Gould, Birds Europe, 143. 



Bp. Char. (9,410 ^, Niirnberg-). Forehead as far back as above the eyes, with sides 

 of head and neck, white ; the remaining portion of head and neck above and below 

 to the jugulum, black; the rest 

 of under parts white. Up- 

 per parts ashy-gray, including 

 rump ; the upper tail-coverts 

 tinged with black. Wings 

 witli two conspicuous bands 

 and the outer edges of the sec- 

 ondaries white. Tail-feathers 

 black ; the outer two white, 

 edged with black internally. 

 Bill and legs black. Tip of 

 wing formed by outer three 

 primaries ; the distance be- 

 tween the third and fourth 

 about one third that between 



the fourth and fifth. Tarsi lengthened ; claw small ; hind toe and claw .shorter than the 

 middle, its claw short, considerably curved, le.^s than the toe alone : lateral toes nearly 

 equal. Length, 7.30 ; wing, 3.4.5 ; tail, 3.90 ; bill from nostril, .37 ; tar.sus, .80 ; liind toe 

 and claw, .50. 



Hab. Continental Europe, rarer in England ; Iceland ; Oreenland (only two specimens 

 seen) ; Siberia ; Syria ; Nubia, etc. 



Motacilla yarrdli, a closely allied species, by some considered a variety 

 only, differs in having the rump black, the ashy of the back glossed with 

 blackisli, and with the black edging of tlie lateral tail-feathers broader. 



Habits. The common Wliite Wagtail of Europe claims a place in the 



MolariUn alba. 



